What is an e-petition?

An e-petition is a variation on the traditional paper petition system which allows people to create and sign a petition through the Legislative Council e-petition website.

How do I create an e-petition?

Lodge an e-petition request form through the Council’s e-petitions website here

The request form is reviewed by the Clerk or the Clerk’s delegate to ensure compliance with Standing Orders.

If accepted the e-petition will be posted on the Parliament of Victoria website for the period requested in the form and the principal petitioner notified that the e-petition is now live, along with a link to it.

The e-petition will be live to accept signatures until the time nominated on the request form (up to a maximum of 6 months).

NB: In order for an e-petition to be tabled in the House, it must be sponsored by a Member of the Legislative Council. A Member can agree to sponsor an e-petition at any time, including after the e-petition has closed.

I submitted an e-petition but it’s not on the website. Where is it?

E-petitions are reviewed by the Clerk or the Clerk’s delegate to ensure compliance with Standing Orders. Once approved the e-petition will go live on the website and the principal petitioner will be notified via email.

Who should I address my petition to?

Rules for the format of petitions, both paper and electronic, can be found here.

I’m not sure whether my e-petition meets the requirements, how can I get help?

Rules for the format of petitions, both paper and electronic, can be found here.

Will my personal details be published?

Your personal details will not be published online, however, all petitions – both electronic and paper – may be requested to be viewed in full, including names and addresses of signatories, after they have been tabled in the House.

Can there be more than one e-petition on the same topic?

Yes.

How long are e-petitions published on the Parliament website?

E-petitions that are tabled in the Legislative Council are listed on the Parliament website for the length of the Parliament they were tabled in.

E-petitions that have been closed and are not sponsored by a Member will remain on the Parliament website for a duration of 12 months. If 12 months pass after the conclusion of the posted period without Member sponsorship, all record of the e-petition, including personal information provided by the principal petitioner and any signatories, will be removed from the system and will not be retained.

Can the closing date be changed?

Yes. The principal petitioner can apply to extend or reduce the posted period of their e-petition by lodging a request in writing to the Clerk.

How long before it is tabled does an e-petition need to close to new signatures?

E-petitions to be tabled on the Tuesday or Wednesday of a sitting week will be closed to new signatures at close of business on Thursday of the previous week.

E-petitions to be tabled on the Thursday or Friday of a sitting week will be closed to new signatures at close of business on Monday of that sitting week.

This allows Council staff to prepare e-petitions for tabling in the House.Note you may request that your e-petition is re-opened to collect more signatures after it is tabled.

Once an e-petition is tabled, can it gather more signatures and be tabled again (progressive tabling)?

Yes.

If you want your e-petition to gather more signatures after it is tabled, please inform the Chamber Support Office on epetitions.council@parliament.vic.gov.au or 03 9651 8678. Once your e-petition is tabled the signature count will be recorded, and a new count started for the new signatories to your e-petition.

Note your e-petition will need to be closed to signatures for a period before it is tabled, while Council staff prepare it for the House. “See How long before it is tabled does an e-petition need to close to new signatures?” for more.

What is Parliament’s privacy policy for e-petitions?

What are the conditions of use for e-petitions?

The Parliament’s conditions of use policy for e-petitions can be found here.

Can I still submit a paper petition to the Parliament?

Yes. Paper petitions continue to be accepted for tabling. Each House has different rules relating to paper petitions.

For more information on paper petitions in the Council click here and in the Assembly click here

Can people under 18 years of age sign a petition?

Yes. Any resident of Victoria can sign, regardless of age.

Can a company name be used as the principal petitioner?

Yes. Petitions from corporations must be made under their common seal. To instigate an e-petition as a corporation please contact via email or call 03 9651 8678 for assistance.

Can a paper petition and an e-petition of the same wording be active simultaneously?

Yes, however they will be treated as separate petitions.

After an e-petition closes, can a new e-petition with the same wording be instigated?

Yes.

Can an e-petition be posted on the internet when Parliament is prorogued?

Yes, subject to approval by the Clerk.

Can the principal petitioner's address be a PO box number?

No, you must provide a Victorian residential address.

Can a signature be removed from an e-petition?

Before a petition has closed, a signatory may request their name be removed from an e-petition. Once a petition has closed, names can no longer before removed. Please contact the Chamber Support Office for more information email or phone 03 9651 8674.

What is the minimum number of signatures required for an e-petition to be tabled?

An e-petition must have at least one signature.

Can a principal petitioner sign their own petition?

Yes.

Can a signatory sign an e-petition more than once?

No, signatories may only join an e-petition or paper petition once.

I have a e-petition on another website, can I upload these signatures?

The Legislative Council can only accept e-petitions that are instigated via the e-petitions page on the Parliament of Victoria website. Petitions from other websites such as Change.org cannot be accepted for presentation.

Are e-petitions available in the Legislative Assembly?

No.

What happens after an e-petition is tabled?

Once an e-petition is tabled it becomes a public document, which forms part of the original records of the Council and its terms are published in Hansard.

The Clerk communicates the terms of each tabled petition to the relevant Minister.

Can my e-petition be in a language other than English?

E-petitions have the capacity to be presented in a foreign language with a certified translation.

To instigate an e-petition in a language other than English please contact vic email or call 03 9651 8678 for assistance.

Privacy Statement

Last Updated: Wednesday, 05 December 2018 11:40

The Parliament of Victoria recognises that privacy is a major concern of visitors to this site. We make some use of data that only indirectly identifies users. We take great care with practices that affect personal privacy.

Email

We will only record your e-mail address if you send us a message. It will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to a mailing list without your permission.

Links to other sites

This site contains links to other sites. The Parliament is not responsible for the privacy practice or the content of such web sites.

E-Petitions

The collection, storage and use of personal information provided in the e-petitioning process in Victoria is governed by Standing Orders approved by the Legislative Council.

For a Principal Petitioner, the Legislative Council require that the person’s full name and e-mail address is provided and it will published on the website against the e-petition. Parliament has no control of who will use this email address or how it will be used. The personal details of people who join (or “sign”) e-petitions will not be published on the website.

The Standing Orders require people who join an e-petition to provide their name and Victorian residential address. Prior to tabling, access to this information is restricted parliamentary officers for the purpose of administering the e-petition or operating the e-petition service.

Copies of all tabled petitions, both paper and e-petitions, can be provided on request to the Legislative Council Table Office. A tabled petition, including paper and e-petitions, will contain the name and full address of all people who have signed the petition.

Principal Petitioners may be contacted by Parliament to provide feedback on the e-petitions process.

Web Statistics Data Collection

Our server automatically records information relating to your use of the system. This information may include, but is not limited to things like IP address, date and time of the visit, pages or documents accessed during the visit and other browser related information such cookies and the type of browser used.

The information collected will only be used for the purposes of operating, maintaining and improving the e-petitions or other Parliamentary electronic services or as otherwise required by law.

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Paper Petitions

Last Updated: Wednesday, 15 March 2017 14:09

Paper petitions should be set out in the following manner:

TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OFVICTORIA

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council (here state the circumstances of the case)

The Petitioners therefore request that (here outline the action or remedy sought from the Legislative Council)

Terms and Conditions

If you wish to join or create an e-petition, you will need to accept the following terms and conditions:

The details you enter when signing or creating the e-petition must be true and accurate.

Once an e-petition closes, there is no ability to add or remove signatures from the petition or the tabled document.

All current e-Petitions will be accessible from the Parliament of Victoria website. An e-Petition can be posted on the website for a minimum period of 1 week and a maximum of 6 months. The Principal Petitioner may request the Clerk extend the petition length.

Only the email address of the Principal Petitioner will be made public on the website. The personal details of those who join e-petitions will not be published in any form on the website. The website will only show a tally of the number of signatures collected. Once presented to Parliament, e-petitions become public documents and the details of the e-petition, including the names and addresses of signatories, may be accessed, on request, from the Council Table Office. The Privacy Statement on the website details how your personal information is protected.

As with paper petitions, the Principal Petitioner and signatories are responsible for raising awareness in the community about the availability of the specific e-petition. A guide to assist Principal petitioners promote their e-petitions has been developed by and is available on request from the Clerk. The Parliament of Victoria’s role is only to facilitate the e-petitions process.

It is the Principal Petitioners responsibility to engage a Member of the Legislative Council to table their e-petition in Parliament. There is no obligation on the part of any Member of Parliament to sponsor an e-petition. Neither the Parliament of Victoria nor any Member of Parliament sponsoring an e-petition necessarily endorses the views or information contained in any e-petition posted on the website or tabled in Parliament.

Electronic Petitions

Last Updated: Friday, 21 December 2018 11:00

E-petitions for presentation to the Council are hosted on the Parliament of Victoria website and are subject to the terms and conditions of use. Online petitions hosted on sites such as Change.org cannot be accepted.

Standing Orders 10.01 to 10.09 apply except in relation to the requirement for a petitioner’s signature

A principal petitioner may lodge an e-petition with the Clerk for publication on the Parliament’s website.

The Clerk will decline to publish an e-petition not in conformity with Standing Orders.

The posted period for an e-petition is to be nominated by the principal petitioner and is to be a minimum of one week and a maximum of six months from the date of publication.

At the conclusion of the posted period, the principal petitioner may extend the posted period up to a maximum of six months on request to the Clerk.

The principal petitioner may close the posted period of an e-petition prior to the nominated conclusion date on request to the Clerk.

In the event that the Council is due to expire pursuant to section 28(2) of the Constitution Act 1975 within six months from the date of publication of an e-petition, the maximum posted period will be determined by the Clerk.

Once published an e-petition cannot be altered.

Persons may become signatories to (join) an e-petition by electronically providing their name, address and signifying their intention to join the petition.

For the duration of the posted period of an e-petition, signatories may be progressively presented as a petition to the House

Upon progressive presentation of signatories to the House, the publicly displayed number of persons who have joined that e-petition will re-set to zero.

For the purposes of the records of the House, each progressive presentation of an e-petition will be recorded as a separate petition.

On any occasion of progressive presentation and once the posted period for an e-petition has elapsed, a paper copy of the petition shall be printed by the Clerk in full for presentation by a Member.

Any personal information provided for the creation of or to join an e-petition will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided.

History

E-petitions for presentation to the Council came into effect in early 2017 following a resolution of the House in 2016. The Procedure Committee reported on the adoption of an e-petitions system in their report tabled in November 2016, available here.